Document downloaded from: http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/67589 The final publication is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2017.1298648 Copyright (c) Taylor & Francis Online, 2017 New or Old Models of Ageing? The Older-Woman Figure in Two Contemporary Catalan Soap Operas Maricel Oró-Piqueras and Núria Casado-Gual Grup Dedal-Lit, Universitat de Lleida Abstract: In her work on women and the soap opera, Christine Geraghty argues that precisely the extended form of this TV genre, both in time and consequent plots, has contributed to a wider representation of women in terms of their age, personality traits and social background, as well as personal and professional interests and concerns. Two recent Catalan soaps, Ventdelplà (2005-10) and La Riera (2010---) have started to broaden the spectrum of the older female characters that were present in the first Catalan soap operas, and which were mainly set within the role of the caring grandmother. In this article, a textual analysis of the evolution of the main two female characters of Ventdelplà and La Riera, Dora Parramon and Mercè Riera, and of their respective subplots, aims to show to what extent a new understanding of age and femininity is reflected in current productions of Catalan TV. Keywords: older women, female ageing, disease, love in old age, soap operas. Main text: Introduction: Catalan Soap Operas as an Influential Popular Genre The first Catalan soap opera, Poblenou, was aired in 1994 by TV3, the Catalan public TV channel. Resulting from a co-production between the Catalan channel and the producing 1 company Diagonal TV, its organization and planning was partly based on popular British soap operas, especially Eastenders, and, to a lesser extent, also inspired by the Latinamerican soaps that were very popular in Spanish channels at that time (Ortega 1999, 60). The combination of these two models with the realistic portrayal of low-middle-class local culture had immense popularity amongst Catalan audiences, and paved the way for the continuity of the genre in Catalan TV up to the present moment. The playwright Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, who, as the main script-writer of Poblenou and of the other Catalan soaps that followed its success, is often referred to as “the father of Catalan soap operas,” explains that his main aim in working on this genre was to introduce progressist values and make the [Catalan] audience more open-minded (Ortega 1999, 69). After forty-years of Franco’s dictatorship, Spain was a young democracy in which new freedoms and identities could be expressed. Within the Spanish context, the Catalan community in particular had suffered the prohibition of using its own language and of expressing and developing its own culture, not only under Franco’s regime, but also during the difficult period of transition toward democracy. According to Benet i Jornet, the new Catalan TV series would contribute to the opening up of Catalan society not only to new values, but also to a wider conception of the family and relationships (Ortega 1999, 69). In this respect, Joan Bas, the head of Diagonal TV and one of the three directors of Poblenou, stated in an interview that one of the main objectives of the first of the Catalan soap operas was to show a variety of conflicts generated by romantic and family relationships, as well as by socioeconomic and generational differences (Ortega 1999, 64). Likewise, Benet i Jornet claimed that in his first Catalan soap opera he precisely wanted to mirror a spectrum of society that was wider to that ‘allowed’ by the moral impositions of Franco’s regime (Ortega 1999, 70). Ultimately, the team of Poblenou attempted to target a broad sector of the Catalan population –that is, viewers of all ages from mostly working-class and middle-class backgrounds− with a locally-produced 2 series of quality, through which Catalan language and culture could be expressed and developed in an atmosphere of cultural normality and social freedom two decades after the end of the dictatorship. Since Poblenou aired for the first time, and up until the present day, seven other Catalan soap operas have followed its popularity: Secrets de Família (in 1995); Nissaga de Poder (from 1996 to 1998, and with a sequel entitled Nissaga: l’herència, in 1999), Laberint d’Ombres (from 1998 to 2000), El cor de la ciutat (from 2000 to 2009), Ventdelplà (from 2005 to 2010); and La Riera (from 2010 to the present). Throughout the two decades of its existence in the public Catalan TV, the genre has evolved by combining the realistic basis of the first soap and its somehow sentimental portrayal of the working- and middle-classes, with more sophisticated characterizations for the protagonists (starting with those of the main characters in Secrets de Família ), some features of detective fiction (as in the Nissaga series and also in Laberint d’Ombres), and a broader socioeconomic spectrum of the protagonists, with a certain focus on the upper-middle classes in some cases (especially in the two Nissagas and La Riera). The change of fictional space in the different series, with locations ranging from different areas of Barcelona to different places of Catalan geography, has not only consolidated the importance of this TV genre as a cultural product with which Catalan viewers of different socioeconomic backgrounds can identify, but has also guaranteed its idiosyncratic variety from a regional perspective. Despite all these variations, the most recent Catalan soap operas retain two basic elements that explain the success of their predecessors: the focus on family life and personal relationships, which is typical of the genre; and their willingness to offer a wide range of characters and stories that can reflect the complexity of contemporary Catalan society. These two characteristics render them ideal examples of popular culture in order to reflect upon their portrayal of inter-generational differences and, more particularly, their depiction of age-based identities. 3 Catalan Soap Operas and the Older Woman The demographic and socio-cultural changes that have transformed Western societies into ageing and aged domains is reflected in the increasing visibility of older characters in various manifestations of contemporary popular culture, including soap operas. Considering the centrality of female figures in this popular genre (Geraghty 2006, 130), we believe that the analysis of the older female characters in the most recent of the Catalan soap operas can offer relevant insights into how ageing women are perceived today by a broad sector of Catalan society −especially if, in their willingness to offer realistic portrayals, Catalan soap operas are regarded as faithful narratives of the community they represent. At the same time, the overt intention of the producing teams of TV3 and Diagonal TV to use soap operas as a cultural product whereby open attitudes towards social diversity can be fostered, renders this analysis more significant. In fact, even aspects of the soap operas which are not given a central space become highly influential on the viewers, precisely because they prevail in the long duration of a soap opera in a more taken-for-granted way. As Barbara Czarniawska et al. remark, “the attitude-forming impact of messages of secondary importance to the plot may be as strong as those of primary importance, because they are not easily submitted to critical reflection” (2013, 268). This paper will offer a close reading of the representation of the older woman in Ventdelplà and La Riera through both a secondary figure and the central character of each series, respectively. Through a textual analysis of the characters’ creation and development, we intend to observe both unintentional and authorial visions of ageing women that have emerged from Catalan soaps in the last decade, and which can equally condition the perception of the older woman in present-day Catalan society -and, by extension, in other communities in which these cultural products may be sold. Underlying our analysis is the circular relationship between popular culture and identity formation, whereby soap operas, as 4 products of popular culture, not only reflect actual views but also “teach[-] practices,” “offer[- ] interpretative templates” and, ultimately, “reinforce[-] certain desires and anxieties of [their] audience” (Czarniawska 2013, 268). For the present study, a full revision of the two soaps has been carried out, and a selection of the most significant episodes and sequences has been made in order to enable a close reading of the two characters. The analysis of the primary sources has been contrasted with other studies on the soap opera, and with current theories on cultural representations of ageing and of the older woman in particular. Christine Geraghty argues that the soap opera has contributed to a wider representation of women in terms of their age, personality traits and social background, thanks to the extended form of the genre. Following media feminist critics such as Charlotte Bunsdon, Geraghty considers the soap opera as a “highly gendered cultural system” which allowed women to reflect on “what it felt to be female in the contemporary world” (2006, 130). This partly applies to Catalan soap operas, insofar as shows like Poblenou and most of the TV series that followed it up to 2000 had prominent older female figures in their fictional worlds. However, the role of mature and older women within the first Catalan soap operas was quite restricted, insofar as it mainly fell within the stereotype of the matriarch. This was especially manifested in the depiction of caring mothers and grandmothers who, if needed, were ready to surpass moral and legal boundaries in order to protect their families at all costs; or, albeit less frequently, through the figure of the single older woman who is a source of constant support to the family, and who also represents traditional family values.